I remember back in 2000-02 or so, I could turn on Speedvision and there would always be something interesting to watch. Everything from rallying, to touring cars, to boat racing, and even lawnmower racing.
When there wasn't racing being shown, they would show old school car-oriented movies on "Lost Drive-In." Or they would show auto mechanics shows that actually taught useful stuff, instead of "Pimp My Ride" and such. Last but not least, "Victory by Design" and "Legends of Motorsports."
Speedvision was never going to be a big network, and this was a time before reality television took over everything. For example, History Channel would mostly show programs that involved... History.
The people that watch television today are mostly interested in reality TV, and most networks tried to capitalize on that. Before, these specialized channels tried to fill in a specific niche. When reality TV came along, it no longer made as much sense to fill in a niche, it was better to cash in on the reality TV trend. I personally think the internet has had a big impact on which people watch TV (due to the,
eh-hem, more intellectual minded people spending most of their time on the internet instead of TV.
Take from that what you will.
), but that's for another thread.
Then FOX took over, called it SPEED, replaced most road racing coverage with NASCAR coverage and reality TV, moved stuff like the WRC coverage to ridiculous time slots before axing it, and you know the rest. Of course it's about money.
